Ghana Cape Coast Mission

The last bath was the last stop 40 miles from the coast where the slaves were brought to clean up before they were taken to the Castles on the Ghana coast to auction.  If was very sobering to see where they were chained and shackled, washed, branded, and often buried. The river was beautiful.   From the road we walked through a tunnel of trees and vines down to the river they called the "last bath"  However, hiding within the waters were untold horrors including a chain and shackle that kept the enslaved from escaping.

 Shelly and I take a morning walk through our village of NKanfoa.  At 6:00am the village is alive and bustling.  Lot of youth "fetching" water for their homes.  These young boys carry about 5 gallons of water on their heads for about a mile.  You should see their calf muscles! At the main junction of the village they blare news and village announcements.  I think the practice is useful but does it really need to start at 5:00am.   The mud huts or houses are surrounded by motes which are deep gutters for the grey water that comes out of the homes.  This drawbridge is a little rickety. 

 

  I am amazed at the rate of growth and decay in Africa.  If I laid on the ground too long I feel I would be swallowed up by something.  Termites build their mounds on old tree stumps and eat into the stump until there is nothing left except a pile of something.  This electrical pole is being consumed by hungry termites.    I have become fascinated by vines in Africa.  They are beautiful and odd.  This is called the Stinky Passion Flower.  I was curious about its name and discovered, after popping one of the pods in my fingers, where it got its name. This vine is called the Mexican Creeper.  The flower is thick and pink.  The leaf is a perfect heart.  They use this vine for ornamental purposes at weddings and funerals.  It is considered a roadside vine and easy to access. This vine climbing up a telephone wire is called "Mile a Minute" vine.  It has a beautiful purple flower but can cover a forest or fence or electric...

Shelly and I try to walk every morning on the roads around our house.  You'll notice a big grey object on the road next to Shelly.  At first, I thought it was a large granite rock As we got closer, we discovered it was a load of used plastic bottles that fell off a KK in the middle of its journey to become fresh new bottles for water, zip locks, or a multitude of other plastic product. It starts with the poorest of the poor pushing these carts around and picking up recyclables to earn pennies a day  These carts are pushed to neighborhood recycle spots for bagging.   The metals go metal drop-offs and plastics to plastic drop-offs.  The plastics and metals are carried to larger and larger facilities where manufactures such at Voltic Water will come pickup truck loads of bottles to make their new and fresh bottles.